the kabbalist’s cabal

I recently got involved in an(other) debate (I use that term advisedly – the nitwits with whom I was in discussion are only capable of shouting slogans and regurgitating talking points filled with disproved pseudo-facts) with a small group of ersatz conservatives who have been drinking Glen Beck’s Kool Aid by the gallon – especially when it comes to climate issues. Please note that I refer to them as ersatz conservatives because real conservatives are inherently concerned about conserving the health of the environment – not allowing the commons to be spoiled in ways that threaten their lives, their families, their property, their livelihoods, and their freedoms.

One of the things that these dim bulbs kept pointing to is a conspiracy that links climate scientists (and others in the scientific community) to a global movement intent on imposing a new economic and social order on the world. Their theory involves the UN and targets the IPCC. And it reserves some special scorn for James Hansen and NASA – which, I was shocked (shocked!) to learn, is capable of sending men to the moon and robots to Mars, and taking photographs of the further reaches of the universe . . . but is incapable of accurately measuring atmospheric temperatures on earth.

I’ve never felt especially comfortable with this kind of unproven conspiratorial thinking. I’m no fan of the UN – in fact, I’d be happy to see it disbanded (and replaced with an institution that consists only of democratic countries that subscribe to, and practice, policies based on fundamental freedoms – but that’s another story). But I really don’t think there’s any more of a high probability for a conspiracy linking thousands of scientists, their support staffs, the institutions they work for, the governments that support them, and all of the rest of the moving parts needed for such a plan to have any basis in reality. It’s more likely, to my mind, that 9/11 was engineered by the CIA. Which is to say, not very likely at all.

On the other hand, there are some good reasons to believe that the industries which stand to lose the most if the world determines there is merit in the emerging findings of climate science are behind a deliberate campaign of disinformation that is specifically intended to cloud the discussion and delay or derail the public policies required to meet the existential threat posed by climate extinction. These good reasons include the fact that the funding for the guys who are on the front lines “challenging” the climate science comes from the industries which stand to lose the most if the world decides to reduce or eliminate its dependence on fossil energy sources. Guys like Richard Lindzen and Alan Watt are totally dependent on the largess of the oil, coal, gas, and electric companies.

Here’s a good example of what I mean. Pat Michaels – who is a real climate scientist – has sold out to fossil energy industry. Of course, the mainstream media has not raised this issue in any kind of substantive way, preferring, instead, to keep the pot boiling by creating the appearance of a rational and reasonable other point of view. Not that other points of view are to be universally eschewed. Like the proposition that Hamas, which clearly has another point of view, warrants equal time in the media, to say nothing of a seat at the negotiating table, is just a ludicrous as the notion that a small group of fringe thinkers – who are on the payroll of the fossil energy industry – have a point of view that warrants serious consideration.

All of this said, I’m waiting for someone to prove, to a standard of clear and convincing evidence, what the impetus for the climate change cabal is. Once you get past the possibility that climate scientists will garner more research dollars by coming up with new facts that prove rising GHG levels are forcing rising temperatures (regardless of whether you measure them in the atmosphere, in the land, or in the ocean) and other phenomena (soil and ocean acidification, polar ice melt, reef collapse, forest decline), the conspiracy theory loses steam pretty quickly, there’s no place to go with the conspiracy. Unless you think NASA and NOAA are part of some kind of fifth column being organized and led by Al Gore. If you belive that’s the case, just relax, Nurse Ratchet will be along with your meds any minute.

So, what’s the point of the climate conspiracy – who’s behind it (is James Hanson really the Grand High Archon of the Illuminati?) – how does it operate ? ? ?

Just askin’.

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Being Sentient

There's a lot of drivel out there. Too much of it passes for rational thought. Not enough of it is held up to close scrutiny. And a great deal of it finds its way into politics, government, business, the media, and life in general. The purpose of this site is to debate, debunk, and otherwise demythologize the kinds of idiocy that ranges from rank stupidity to gross contempt for the unexpurgated truth.